Thank you for choosing to read this story! It is my first story in a long time so I'm hoping everyone enjoys! I haven't got a Beta so I'm sorry for any mistakes throughout the story. I am from Australia so any differences in seasons or schooling is more than likely due to this fact. Reviews are extremely appreciated!
The plane ride had been begrudgingly long and tedious. Seconds had ticked over to minutes which had ticked over to hours and it wasn't long until my legs had begun to cramp up. The small monitor that was tacked onto the back of the chair before me had lacked anything of interest; it was all animated movies and action films. A majority of the plane trip was spent encompassed by ominous, charcoal clouds that foreshadowed the impending rainfall and the rare gaps that broke through the murky sky only gave way to a view of the endless sea moving below us.
When I had first boarded the plane and found my deteriorated seat I had been excited to see the empty adjacent chairs. I had quickly placed my carry-on in the overhead locker before plunking myself down and waiting anxiously to see if they were yet to be filled. To my glee, they weren't and so I took full advantage of the empty space; pulling my bag from the locker after lift-off, placing it down beside me and pulling myself over to the window seat. I had watched the drab clouds float by and listened to my playlist on shuffle while my legs ached in the cramped space.
By the time the included on-flight meals had been distributed by the stewardess' my eyes had taken to people watching. Across from me in the row on the other side of the small, passenger plane sat a plump man with greying hair and deeply engraved wrinkles who had been tapping vigorously at a shiny, new iPad for a majority of the trip; the stewardess who had handed out the lousy tin trays that held the dull plane food had been tall and skinny, she had brunette hair that wall pulled back in a neat, mandatory bun on the nape of her neck and had smiled brightly when she asked me how the trip had been; over the seats in front of me I could see the top of two blonde heads, one a male with a mop of tangled curls, the other a women with straight, flat strands, who had been chattering endlessly throughout the trip, to my dismay.
When, finally, the rough voice of the captain had sounded through the crackling speakers announcing that the plane would be landing soon I had sighed in relief. A small, relaxed smile parted across my face at the thought of finally being home. With the months-worth of long service leave I had accumulated over my years of teaching at a reasonably large high-school in The District I had escaped to Panem to visit Gale. The trip had been dearly needed as the endless days spent teaching countless sports to a rowdy bunch of teenagers had taken its toll on both my mental and social life, but the city wasn't really a place for me. It was like pushing the incorrect puzzle piece into the place you wished it to fit, it was doable but it wasn't necessarily comfortable. So I was somewhat glad when the time came for me to fly back home and resume my regular routine.
As soon as the plane had come to a halt, the seatbelt sign had been switched off and the plane doors were slid open ready for the influx of people getting off, I was on my feet. I was ready to be rid of the cramped space and stuffy air of the plane and to be back on home turf. With my hand tightly grasping at the tattered handle of my carry-on I had begun to dash to the front of the plane where the stewardess' were ushering people off but the startling touch of someone's heavy hand on my shoulder brought me to a pause.
"Excuse me, hey" the voice belonging to the hand resting upon my shoulder called. I looked longingly towards the plane door just ahead of me as a queue began to develop then swivelled around with both exasperation and apprehension written across my face to the man behind me. "Hey, sorry, you just dropped this." The man's outstretched hand held the phone that had been tucked securely into my back pocket only moments ago. I looked from the phone back to him, his smile was large and encouraging and I recognised his mop of blonde curls as belonging to the man sitting in front of me for the duration of the plane trip. His eyes were happy and blue, so very, very blue. They were the colour of sapphires, cobalt, the ocean, the baby blue sky all mixed into one. They had these golden flecks the colour of butterscotch and honey running through them. They looked so caring and sweet. And, oh God, they were very, very blue.
I was pulled from the blue lagoons swirling within his eyes when an awkward, throaty chuckle crept out his throat as the time I spent silent drew on too long for a normal exchange between strangers.
"Thankyou" I mumbled tensely while quickly snatching at the phone resting in his hands and turning back towards the opening of the plane door. I continued on my path towards the escape, only this time at a slow shuffle as the crowd of people before me gradually made their way out like ants crawling from a crack.
By the time I emerged from the plane and entered the large, box-shaped building labelled terminal two the rain's weight had won its fight against the clouds strength and had begun to trickle down. It was slow at first; only lightly pattering onto the concrete runway on the other side of the large windows but it quickly gained speed and began to fall in sheets, splattering down, hard, onto the windows and soaking every inch of the tarmac.
"Thank God we weren't flying through that mess" I utter to myself, peering through the rain-drop covered windows.
I was quick to weave my way through the maze of hallways and terminals to the baggage collection so I wasn't surprised when only one or two other people had arrived and were waiting for their suitcase to be spewed out onto the conveyer belt. I surveyed the few bags currently winding their way past with my fingers crossed secretly in my jumper pocket, hoping that one of them was mine. To my letdown, none of them were and so I was left to fiddle with the sleeve of my jumper impatiently as a steady stream of suitcases passed by.
Finally after a few minutes I saw the battered pine green material of my bag slip through the hold of the airport walls and onto the conveyer belt awaiting me to grab it. A sigh of relief slipped past my lips unintentionally as my legs led me towards the bag which I blindly grabbed. It wasn't long after that that I made my way to the front of the airport to await for Prim to come pick me up.
I stepped outside and the sharp June wind speared through my jumper sheathed arms like mini knives and caused a wave of goose bumps to transpire across my skin. The rain continued to batter down just beyond the shielding of the metal canopy above me, pooling on the bitumen road. It was only a few moments until the familiar, second-hand, silver Hyundai rolled around the corner with an even more familiar blonde sitting in the front seat. My smile grew exceptionally wider at the sight of her and I reached my hand out in a beckoning wave. She parked the car right in front of me and before I could even make an attempt at moving, she was bounding out of her seat behind the wheel and wrapping me in an unyielding hug.
"Katniss! I missed you so much" Prim breathed, her voice strained with emotion. I laughed lightly into the woollen material of Prims favourite scarf, shaking my head ever so slightly.
"I was only gone a month, little duck" I replied softly, though I hugged her tighter against me, revelling in the comfort her presence brought me. When mum was only half-here (the other half of her off in some hypnotic, drug-induced world that she seemed more comfortable in than the world that held her two daughters) Prim became the only person I had. We became reliant upon each other, my half was more emotional than anything; where she required a mother-figure to take her to school and cook her dinner, I required the continuity she brought me. Prim was meaning and purpose for me; a reason to stay sane, to fight for her. Even only being gone for a month had left a deep crevasse inside me where Prim belonged.
We stood there for a while, clinging to each other for the support and comfort the other has always provided but when the wind picked up and began angling the rain so that it sprayed under the protection the canopy provided we decided that it was best to get going.
The trip home was pleasant as I rehashed vague details of my trip. Prim has yet to travel out of The District, just another thing our underprivileged background hasn't allowed, so she was eager to hear of what Panem was like. I told her about the tall buildings that stretched high into the sky, the masses of people who were constantly flooding the pathways, the millions of twinkling lights that stretched far into the darkness at night like small diamonds scattered over the horizon.
It wasn't long until I was redirecting the conversation towards Prim. The spotlight has never been a comfortable place for me, even if I'm only around my baby sister I still feel jittery and overly-conscious. She easily takes over the talking when I ask her about school, erupting with stories about her university professors, the cute boy that had sat beside her in one of her courses and a new rom com she had seen with her friends at the cinemas. She radiated an angelic glow when she spoke, her diamond blue spherical eyes gleamed with jubilance and a whimsical resonance ran through every word she let past her lips. I sank into the worn-out seat with a content sigh as we drew closer and closer to the small apartment which we called home.
The house hadn't altered much from the way I had left it over a month ago, but there wasn't much to change, really. I headed to my bedroom and dropped my bag to the floor with an unexpected heavy thud then turned and headed straight back to the living room where Prim had situated herself. Her brilliant, wide eyes flickered up to meet mine and a happy smile spread across her face as she turns them back down towards her phone.
"You don't mind if Rory comes 'round do you?" she questions me casually as she types out a quick text. I was a little surprised by her question; I had expected her to be slightly more interested in spending some time with me seeing as I only just got back, but my little duck wasn't so much of a little duck anymore and I knew I had to realise it sometime soon. Being the 20-year-old that she is, it was only normal for her to prefer the company of her boyfriend over her sardonic and cynical older sister who preferred silence over conversation and was unsuccessful at befriending anyone, even the moth that used to live in her bedroom.
"Mm hmm, sure thing, little duck" I murmured as I pretended to be preoccupied in the pantry that was as bare and barren as a desert. I shut the pantry door, my hands as vacant as they were when I opened it and headed back into the living room; I slump down beside her as she giggled quietly to her phone. Clearly Rory is a lot funnier than I remembered him to be.
"Rory is really excited to catch up with you" she insists, her eyes still glued to the screen, "he hasn't been able to afford to go visit Gale for a while so he's excited to hear some stories from your trip." I nod vaguely, knowing full well that my stories aren't what Rory is actually coming for. The second eldest Hawthorne is a good kid. He stepped up to the plate to help Gale when their dad passed; he's mature and reliant, always lending a hand and never expecting anything in return; not even acknowledgement for his good deeds. That doesn't change the fact that I believe no one is good enough for my little duck. Even if God himself came to my sister pleading for her hand in marriage, I doubt he would be up to the standards I have set for my baby sister.
"I'm going to go shower then, I feel disgusting after that flight" I told my sister as I rose from my spot and dawdled down the empty hallway towards the bathroom. I unsheathed myself from my clothing, turned on the faucet and stepped under the onslaught of hot water. The hazy steam swirled in lethargic patterns as it rose steadily towards the ceiling. I watched as one droplet travelled down the shower screen, gaining in size and velocity during the vertical drop.
My mind wandered off like usual, first down the path of the class plans I had to organise by Monday, then to what I would make for dinner that night, which then made me think of the other housework I had to get done like unpacking my suitcase and doing the laundry. A groaning sigh slipped from my lips. The list of things to get done was already beginning to grow feverishly like a wild vine but I assured myself that it was okay. It was routine, it kept me busy, and it was what I needed.
I slipped from the shower and made my way to my bedroom, wrapped tightly in the thread-bare, slightly off-white towel. The room was practically empty, only a lousy chest of draws, a singular bedside table, my bed and the green suitcase sitting on the ground before it, looking even more tattered than I remember it to be. Knowing that the laminated set of draws was bare of clothes as I had packed practically every piece of clothing I owned for the trip (which still wasn't much), I decided to head straight for the suitcase in search for something to wear.
Clutching my towel tightly to myself, I began to unzip the bag. It was only then that I realised the thin, olive-green ribbon that had been tied onto the zip for so many years was gone. Must have fallen off when the airport workers were handling it I thought to myself. But once the bag was completely open, its insides exposed to the world I realised that that was not the case.
"What the fuck" I whispered under my breath at the sight of men's shoes and men's shirts and every other piece of clothing a man would require. It was all packed perfectly, neatly folded and organised; that is what told me it was definitely not my bag. I picked up one of the shirts that sat on the surface and unfolded it.
"What the fuck" I all-but shouted at the piece of clothing. The outcry was enough for Prim to come looking into my room, her facial features veiled in curiosity. Her eyebrow arched when she saw the men's t-shirt that was clutched in my hands.
"Did you manage to have more fun over in Panem then you have told me about?" Prim asks suggestively with a humorous quality to her voice. I turn to her wide-eyed as I splutter out incoherent words. "Chill, Katniss! I was joking" she chuckles lightly, "looks like you switched up your bag."
My eyes flit back to the bag filled with the men's clothing and I nod blankly. And now it makes sense why the bag landed with an overly-heavy thud, why it looked even more tattered than I remembered and why my green ribbon wasn't adorning the handle. This simply isn't my bag. I reach for the luggage tag that hung lifelessly from one of the side handles, the writing was faded and smeared and it was a bit of a struggle to work out what it read but I managed. Peeta Mellark it had written across the tag with a mobile number scrawled beside it.
"Well shit" I mumbled.